The horse you regretted...

[Nudibranch]

...not buying?

I'm pretty sensible when it comes to buying, but there are two that I often think of, both sob stories really so not exactly the dream horse that got away.

One is from about 3 years ago when I was looking for a Dales or oversize Fell. I'd just found her but my wanted ad was still live and a lovely sounding lady contacted me about her 15hh Fell who she was having to part with. The way she described him just broke my heart and I often wonder where he went. I hope he found a kind home.

The other is from many years ago. We were at Beeston just for something to do and there was a very small, very fine, skinny chestnut pony maybe 12hh or so. Hips and ribs standing out. He didn't didn't have his own pen, he was just tied to the rails waiting to go in to the ring. (I say he but it may have been a mare, I didn't actually check!) He had the most awful scarred legs, and just stood in complete acceptance of his fate. He wore a very old, dried out driving harness. If we had had transport I would have bought him out of pity. Normally I don't get sucked into that kind of thing but I often think of him and wonder what happened. It's my only horsey regret, not taking him home.

 

[pistolpete]

Aww bless you how sad. I saw one yesterday! A 16 hand ex riding school mare for sale 20 years old! Why? Poor old girl. Also one that got away from me was a Balmoral Highland mare. Sounded very Green but kind. Rang and rang but owner wouldn’t answer phone. Bought the one I have who has been nothing but trouble and saw her for sale again a year ago! If only I’d been able to get her!

 

[Tarragon]

I have one. A friend had a pony she was selling for another friend. It was a dun, about 14hh and a Connemara sort. I took it out for a ride and just thought wow! I just loved the feeling I got riding it. My friend said that I should buy it. But, I was about 20 years out of date with the prices of ponies and the probably quite reasonable price sounded like a huge amount of money and I daren't ask my really non-horsey OH if I could get it. It was one of those ponies that often canters into my dreams!

 

[ihatework]

I don’t think I have ever regretted not buying one. Even the one that I almost bought 25% of that went to the Olympics!!

There are definitely a couple I have regretted buying though ?

 

[pistolpete]

Yep deffo regret the highland ?

 

[Starzaan]

I regret not buying one that failed the vet ??‍
I know he went on to do really well, and I think maybe was just lame on that day, or the vet (it was the sellers vet, the only practice I could find in the area that would go and do the vetting for me) maybe just was biased toward the seller and they didn’t want me to have him?! Who knows.
I sat on him, and IMMEDIATELY thought ‘yep. This is my horse’. He was a 17.3hh Holsteiner, Curt Cobain SR was his registered name, and he ticked every single box I had on my list of ‘dream horse requirements’. He had big shoes to fill after I lost my horse of a lifetime, and I think he would have done that.

 

[[153312]]

Bay roan welsh d X appaloosa X quarter horse 2.5 yr old, first horse viewed and seriously nice but ultimately decided she was too small for me. Probably the correct decision because I am now taller than I was then, but I still regret it and think about her and her owner often. Both lovely people if that makes sense.

Admitting this feels like a brutal betrayal of the horse I ended up with lol.

 

[pistolpete]

Not sure this thread is good for mental health! We’re all wallowing in what ifs! ?

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

A good few years ago now I bought a lovely little ginger-coloured Welsh D. Nice little chap, he'd driven more than ridden and hadn't been backed till he was 8.

He was a lovely boy, but not the horse I needed at that time and sadly I knew it wasn't going to work. I did sell him on to an elderly farmer gent who wanted him for carriage work and I'm sure he was very happy with him; however sadly I did see the farmer had passed away a few years ago.

A simple matter of the right horse at the wrong time; I'd kill for something like that now!

 

[[153312]]

Not sure this thread is good for mental health! We’re all wallowing in what ifs! ?

The solution is to go and buy a horse. I mean duhhh ??? then no more what ifs ?

 

[stangs]

Mare on my yard that I was absolutely in love with. Got me through a lot of tough times, and I’d like to think she trusted me a little more than she trusted other people. There were some things she would get very agitated about if other people did with her, but that she didn’t mind if I did.

Anyway, she got put up for sale. I made a realistic offer based on her collection of physical and behavioural issues. Offer wasn’t high enough. She got sold on without my getting the chance to negotiate. Haven’t seen her since and miss the very guts off her.

 

[Hormonal Filly]

I have one! A gorgeous 15.2 grey I had on loan and bought him on from being ruined by the daughter. The owners decided to ‘suddenly’ sell him and for way out of my price range sadly and wanted payment in full.

He was super, I was absolutely gutted to see him go. He sold within days. I often wonder ‘what if..’ I did manage to buy him!

 

[Reacher]

There is a horse I regretted buying!...

I regret not having the chance to buy my mr H many years sooner ? I wish I’d had him from a youngster.

Sad about your story @Nudibranch and the other sad old horses that are for sale

 

[spacefaer]

16hh Connie/TB chestnut mare. Very special in many ways - owner was scared of her. I reschooled her and evented her for her owner + she paid costs but not livery. She went from bolting unrideable to getting placed at BE Novice. Absolutely clicked with her and loved her. Owner put her on the market and she was sold to a girl who couldn't ride her. I still wonder what happened to her.
I was a bit offended that I'd put all the work in to make her valuable but the owner wanted me to pay full market price ?

 

[Ratface]

I have real difficulty in getting my head around people selling their old horses. Anything over 20 is old in my book.
However, I'm an old dinosaur. My current horse is 28, and I ride him 2-3 times a week. Generally in walk. He would prefer to go at warp-speed, everywhere.
If I can't ride, I'll still keep him as long as he's pain free. When that's not possible, I will ensure that he has an easeful death, and is buried with his relatives.

 

[chaps89]

I’ve got 2.
One was a lovely ID x TB 16hh gelding, made a noise but I just loved him. Said no because he was a bit big and too much of a proper horse. Went horse shopping with my mum a few weeks later and he’d ended up at a bin end dealers (didn’t know it was that dealer we were going to until we got there) she let me try him again and I still loved him but his price tag was a bit more by then.
Still regret it.

Second one was one I had on lwvtb. At the time it was the right decision to send him back, he was too much for me. With a few more years experience under my belt I’d love to have him back. That said I followed his endurance career and he was vetted out a lot and certainly when my vet checked him over she wasn’t overly happy so maybe I had a lucky escape?

 

[SEL]

A tired brood mare called Willow who I had bought back into work after her final foal. Her belly showed she'd had too many pregnancies and my instructor used to say it looked like I was riding a pantomime horse with a different person in front and back end - but we went to jumping clinics, hacked everywhere and even tried some dressage.

Unfortunately her owner gave her to a riding school and I lost touch until randomly she turned up a livery yard many years later where I kept another horse. She had ended up in a good home, but they thought she was years younger than she actually was and I'm not sure her legs would have stood up to what their kids wanted to do. I didn't have any money at the time for another horse though and I just have to hope she was loved to the end.

Actually found a rosette we'd won while searching for something else the other day which made me quite teary

 

[YorkshireLady]

Luckily i relation to my mental health the one that got away was a LONG time ago when I was 15. I should have bought the chestnut TB mare Secret...was just a bit of iffyness on contact and my instructor thought could do better for the money at the time...30 years ago 3k. She would have been fantastic fun and I should have had her .The one i bought was NOT a good pick.....and nearly put me off riding full stop.

 

[smolmaus]

Realistically there was no way I was ever going to be capable of taking on a horse when I was 22 (no job, couldn't drive, frequent mental problems, had just fractured my skull) but I do still think of the scared little baby Connie my RI had for schooling. He would be a completely white 15yo called Midnight now if whoever bought him kept the name ? but he was a very beautiful dark dappled boy when I knew him. He didn't come from the best situation and was living life on his last nerve when he first arrived but turned into a lovely pony with a bit of TLC. I couldn't ride at the time due to the skull fracture so I would give him a groom and a cuddle while my sister rode and I got very attached. I did get to have a sit a few times before he left but I think that just made it worse!

 

[SOS]

I regret not buying a very plain, very simple ID type 4 year old mare. I tried her and had a wail of a time jumping her first ever XC fences, hacking her and just generally facing her at things she never had before. She was for sale by a friend of a friend that had been in a bad non horse related accident and would maybe never ride again. So she told me to just have a real play at the viewing and try the mare over some new things. I was after a horse to event and maybe step in to do some hunting during the season.

Yes she wasn’t the most beautiful mover or the prettiest head but she had the temperament to do a very useful job. Unfortunately I then viewed an incredibly flashy, smart event type blood mare who I ended up buying - she was a nightmare in the end. I told myself the ID type mare would be too heavy to event.

I actually saw the very plain mare in a photo from last season. Now 8 years old there was a photo of her flying a 6ft hedge out hunting with a lot of appreciative comments towards the mare under. I’m glad she found an amazing home, I’ve thought often about me buying style over substance and I would not make the mistake again.

 

[milliepops]

none, i haven't been horse shopping since i was a teenager and have just taken whatever came my way since then.
I do wish I'd got a few of them earlier in their lives though.

 

[Caol Ila]

When I was looking for an unbroke project in CO, circa 2005, I tried a couple young quarter horses at a local breeder. They were beautiful young horses, well put togther, fantastic temperaments, and softly and sympathetically started. They were, unfortunately, beyond my budget and already backed, and I was really wanting to experience the whole backing process. I had told the breeder all of that (I'd phoned, seeing if they had any unstarted 3/4 year olds), but she encouraged me to come ride them anyway.

If circumstances had been different, I would have had one of those horses.

 

[skint1]

I deeply regret not buying a lovely ID gelding from a private buyer, he "failed" a 2 stage vetting though had never been sick or sorry a day in his life according to his elderly owner (I had no reason to doubt her) In reality, I only do light hacking and he probably would have been fine but I was too worried about opinions and possible issues so I passed on him. Every time I drive past the village where he was based I think of him and hope he's ok.

.

 

[windand rain]

I don't regret not buying one I do regret not being able to make the boy happy and content with life he was born bad and nothing in his life seems to have appeased his jaded view on life. For a very short time he found someone he loved who was able to safely ride him he adored her but she got too heavy for him so sad but we never found anyone he loved as much. He is just so unpredictable it makes him dangerous We love him and to a point he loves us but you cannot quite trust him not to attack you which in my mind just makes matters worse as he knows no one does

 

[planete]

I rode a gorgeous but fairly lethal palomino part bred arab for a novice owner who had fallen off him a few times. It took me a few months to get him to the point where he no longer tried carting me across the forest or had bucking fits if a leaf moved the wrong way. I then had to go into hospital for an operation only to learn when I came out that the horse had been sold. The owner never even mentioned she intended selling, if she had I would have bought him in a heartbeat. I admit I was a bit gutted about that as the horse and I had really gelled with each other and he was everything I like.

 

[Xmas lucky]

I regret not buying a riding school horse that I had on part loan. Instead I bought ID mare that was 8 but very green and very low mileage she wasn’t suitable for me at the time since she took advantage and wouldn’t move because she knew I was novice rider. I did outgrown her riding abilities and I still don’t click with her.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I sometimes regret not taking a few home from work that were "my" horses. But then they wouldn't have done the job I wanted them to do. Sky wouldn't have been sound enough for showing after he fractured his knee and he did end up with a fair bit of scar tissue on it. Pony again wouldn't have been a show pony and he also wouldn't travel in anything other that a big horse box. He hated our 2 stalls so he would never have gone in a trailer. But he has an amazing home where he is doted on by a mother and daughter on a farm where he spends his days happy hacking. Deli again wouldn't have been a show horse, she didn't move well enough.

I will probably regret not bringing Midnight home in time but again - not a show horse. But he will find a great home as he is so easy oasy to do if he doesn't go back to his owners as a lead horse for the babies!

 

[Antw23uk]

I regret not buying a youngster not long after i came back to riding after a very long break. I didnt feel i could do him justice at the time but he was nice, cheap and beautiful. I saw him a couple of years later and he looked incredible but owned by numpties who had ruined him IMO. I would have done better even being 'green' back then!

Second one was a TB I went to see in the first lockdown who was lovely but my heart was already won over by a ride a few days earlier on a mare i brought. That thing nearly killed me! I should have gone for the TB as he was the horse i needed, not the horse i wanted and would have been perfect had i not wanted something flashier and above my skills and circumstances!

I have a feeling, as of this morning, i am going to regret not buy a nice 3.5yr old ID x that i dont really need but he's lovely and a great price for what he is and what he will be .... this thread has not helped, lol!

 

[LegOn]

I've only ever bought 2 horses, the horse I learned to ride on & the next one was the first horse I went to see & I bought him too! He was one I saw in an ad but the owner was going away for a month so he was put out to grass - she never readvertised him & I was gutted but I had kept her number and just rang her cause I couldnt stop thinking about him, and he turned out to be exactly what I wanted so I snapped him up!

My first horse was from a riding school, when they closed all the school horses were put up for sale so I immediately knew I had to have my boy - he was a grumpy old sod but I loved him. They wanted me to lease him first (they were still doing livery just not a riding school anymore) and me & another girl were both interested in him but I couldnt bear it so offered to buy him outright and he was my horse of a lifetime. I do wonder about that other girl, did she regret it and also wondered what would have been if he had never been in a riding school, he was also rented to hunt so was high mileage. Also I was never sure his age - but it didnt matter we had 11 wonderful years together & I still miss him everyday!

 

[Britestar]

A little pink pony that I saw for sale on FB. Looked lovely, enquired about him and researched the person selling him.
She did not have a good reputation, and as I could not view due to distance, I wasn't brave to just go for it and have him shipped up.

Often wonder what became of him.